Sugarbush has two distinct mountain areas separated by Slide Brook Basin. The south side of Sugarbush, Lincoln Peak, is the resort's main mountain area. Most of the resort real estate is located at Lincoln Peak, including the new Claybrook condominiums and hotel. Lincoln Peak boasts 2,400 vertical feet and a summit elevation of 3,975 feet. 72 of Sugarbush's 111 runs are on the Lincoln Peak side. Also at Lincoln Peak are several other smaller peaks: Gadd Peak, Castlerock Peak, and North Lynx Peak. Castlerock Peak is known to have some of the most challenging terrain in the east with its steep, narrow, winding, New England-style runs.
To the north, and separate from Lincoln Peak, is Sugarbush's other mountain area called Mt. Ellen. Mt. Ellen's top elevation is 4,083 feet (tied for third highest in the state with Camel's Hump), and has one of the largest continuous vertical drops in Vermont at 2,600 feet. Several states and southern Quebec are visible from the summit of Mt. Ellen. Formerly an independent resort (founded by Walt Elliot in the early 1960s), the trails at Mt. Ellen have a different feel than those at Lincoln Peak, and are often less crowded. Mt. Ellen is where many of the locals prefer to ski due to its variety of terrain and lack of overcrowding. Mt. Ellen is also reputed for its New England terrain, and is known for having Sugarbush's steepest run, FIS. Mt. Ellen also has a secondary peak, Inverness Peak, which is home to the Green Mountain Valley School's (GMVS) racing slope, Inverness.
Mt. Ellen is also home to Sugarbush's terrain park and half pipe. For the 06/07 season, Sugarbush partnered with California-based Superparx to create a terrain park, with professionally built and designed rails, bonks, wall rides, a half pipe, and progression hits, with 10 to 45 foot tables. Although some terrain features can be found all over Sugarbush, the primary terrain parks are behind the base lodge at Mt. Ellen and on Mt. Ellen's Riemergasse trail. The half pipe is located on the Riemergasse trail which is named after deceased partner Joe Riemer, who was an avid fan of The Mad River Valley and Sugarbush.
Sugarbush receives an annual average of 262" of snow, but this past winter of 2006/2007 it received 314 inches during the 150 days it was open. Sugarbush has appromimately 70% snowmaking capacity, but some areas are intentionally devoid of snowmaking systems. The resort is renowned for its high quality man-made snow, and combines technology from Ratnik, HKD, SR, and several others to make some of the finest snow possible.
The resort recently switched much of its snowmaking equipment to low energy nozzles (125+ new nozzles). These combine a more efficient use of air and water to use less energy while spraying a better product. Sugarbush's Mt. Ellen was also the first resort to operate all of its grooming equipment on environmentally friendly bio-diesel. The entire resort now runs all of its diesel equipment on bio-diesel.
The area between Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen is called the Slide Brook Basin. This wooded wilderness area is comprised of over 1000 acres and is skiable only with a guided tour and is for expert skiers only. This is some of the best off-piste skiing anywhere and it is rumored that locals and experienced Sugarbush veterans frequent it when the snow is right. The owners have even been spotted in there.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Retrieved on 2007-07-27 |
